Street-car and similar vehicle.



G. C. WING & L. P. LIPPS.

STREET CAR AND SIMILAR VEHICLE.

- APPLICATION FILED DEC-21, I914.

Patented June 15, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1 INVENTCRS:

WITNESSES:

1 Anna? e. c. WING & L. P. LIPPS.

STREET CAR AND SIMILAR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-21, I914.

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STAT

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GEORGE C. WING AND LOUIS P.

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To all whom it may concern:

--'Be it known that we, Gnoncn Q. and .LOUIS P. 'L rrs, both citizens ofthe United States, residing in the city of Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, havetogether invented a new and usefulImprovement in Street-Cars and Similar Vehicles, of which a full,'clear,and

' exact description, whereinreference is'made to drawings that accompanyand are to be considered as a part of the specifications, is hereinafterset forth as follows.

I Our invention applies to, and is more immediately concerned with therequirements of car service, von surface, supersurface or subsurfaceroads, in and about modern cities or large popular centers, wheret'rafiic congestion occurs, and is to be relieved, elther ocycasionally,as to or from theaters, ballv -games, race-tracks, fairs or otherexhibition 2:01 amusement polnts, gathering places and- ...attractions,or, regularly, at certain periods as is invariably the case during the,rush hours, when the great oflices, workshops, and

business houses are opening vor closing for the day.

On these occasions, the first demand is not so much with respect to themanner and comfort, as the prompt'ness and speed with whichpassengersa-re handled, for few there are at these times, who do notprefer to stand in a car, and meanwhile be carried toward theirdestination, than to stand on a sidewalk until, a car with vacant seatsarrives. It results that during rush hours the only limit to thepassenger capacity of a selves, but nadequate protection, "against Onthese occasions, therefore, the standing passengers compose, as theyever will, .a distinct and, major portion of the great body of v vspectively, by United States Patents 953502 car-riders and a properregard for their interest should therefore prompt car operators to make.use of the best-attainable means, under the circumstances, forlessening the discomforts and increasing the safety of this class iron:the moment of sin-- Specification of Iie tters Yatent, Patented'Jime 15,1915. Application filedDecemher 21, 1814, Serial No. 8782174. I i I k Iness and enterprisegin the connection, on the part oit car-designers,car-buyers and car-operators,inasmuch as the only provision heretoforemade to'improve the condi tron of this large class oftheir patrons, hastaken the form of overhead supports, like hor zontal poles,orthefainiliar straps. inher ted from the slow-moving horse-cars, orlatterly, the occasional and somewhat pre' car ous stanchionsbetween thefloor and ceiling of the car, to and around which a few of the manyaisle inhabitants are allowed tov clingand swing as they ride. Any

overhead support, however, like straps, loops or horizontal polesnecessarily falls far short ofthe requirements of the situatron, sinceonly the tallest of the "standing passengers can reach and use them,and, then without obtaining any firm hold against being swayed and movedfrom their places by the crowdat each lurch of the car.

Mostwomen, and all persons belowthe average height, cannot use suchsupports at all. Furthermore, the constant physical effort required ofone,.in the processof'strhphanging, and the consequent fatigue, is by:no means ignorable, nor,:also.;t he menace to his neighbors 'from"theumbrella or package of the one so engaged, when, as is often'necessary,-these articles aregrasped by the same. hand which'has holdofthe'strap or pole. ;Stanchions at intervals along the ,seat s, areonly effective radially from their upright line, and, being withoutother than vertical extension, they. can give,;in themand 965972,plansjwere duly disclosed to meet and measurably remedy the veryexigencies'under consideration These plans, in "brief, were to arrangetransverse handriests, at intervals, throughout the-floor of a car, atproper distances apart,- to admit standing passengers between and inclose reach of the same, and at suitable heights from the floor to beconveniently grasped. The main idea was to divide up, in this manner,the mass of standing passengers, into'- small units 'within the severalquasi coinfrom the rest, and insuring each individual member of suchunits, at the same time, a place from which he could not be crowded,anid, a firm and natural support during the r1 e.

The ideas, thus presented, somewhat emphasized the possibility of doingaway with a certain number of seats in the connection, and did notdisclose any definite form or application of the invention, wherein thefullest possible advantages of the same would be realized without, inthe least, encroaching upon the seat space of a car, or reducing, atall, theniunber of seats now used. I v The main purpose of the presentinvention, therefore, is to supplement the ideas already broadly.presented with particular forms and arrangements pertinent, soas tocompletely accomplish the ideas last above referred to, and bring aboutthat, in the end, a vehicle shall be realized which, with otheradvantages, shall have and-preserve intact the accepted maximum capacity'for both seated and standing passengers. In the accompanying-drawings,Figures 1 to 5 are diagrammatic plans of car floors where the floorspace, seats, and said handrests, are variously arranged, in relation to35 each other, according to the invention now under consideration. Fig.6 is a cross vertical section of a car, with aside View of one form of ahandrest' in its place therein relatively to floor space, andlongitudinal seats (shown in section) at the sides of the, car,corresponding, in their correlations in the several respects, with thearrangements indicated in Figs..1, 3, and 5. Fi I7 is a similar view ofsaid elements, w 'en the handrest itself is combined with a stanchionlocated immediately in front of a longitudinal seat, and the seatsopposite --are single," and arranged in tandem, as shown in Fig. 4c,and, Fig. 8 is a like view when the'handrests severally extend above theback of cross seats to the mediandine of the, car,

and the seat, on the opposite side of the car, is longitudinal thereof,as illustrated in Fig. 2. p

Explaining the-several arrangements in Y their order, C is the car as awhole, which with its different parts, is drawn to a scale 'aisle end bystraight in the figures, 'and represents, in most of the same, inrespect to dimensions, seats and doors, various" forms of cars whichhave been actually used.

Figs. 1 and 2 show cars of the rear-en-' trance'pay-enter type; Figs. 3and, cars of the side-entrance pay-enter or leave type, .-'and Fig. 5, arecently constructed frontpar'tments, thereby segregating each unit":

cated in Fig. 7. When employed in front of longitudinal benches, theymay consist of. I

entrance, side-exit, center-payment car, in connectionwith which thepresent invention, for many reasons, will be found to be e'speciallyappropriaterand useful.

iar one in its main features. F is-located centrally of the backplatform v P, with the exit and entrance doors Eat the side of the same.Interiorly, there are 1011;-

gitudinal seats,..or l1enches, S, S, at each v 7 side of the car with aninterspace, of maximum dimensions, for standing passenger's.-In'ordinary cars'the normal aisle, or pasf sageway for the movementof'passengers to and from the ends of thecar, is midway of 801. 7

such space. The seating capacity of said car, asv s ndicated, istwenty-four along;

each side. In vprevailing cars of thistype,

continuous rods or individual straps, for. the'support of standingpassengers, are It cated immediately above said seats. Our 5improvement, over this type,wconsistsin es- 5 p I tablishing the aisleM, 'notmidway of such space, as in the ordinary forms ofcar, but?slightly off or immediately adjoining the center line of the same, andthenyomitting all 'overhead supports onthe side farthest from the aisle,and, substituting, in' their place, or mergingtheir functions in,a-series of rigid,"ballustrade-like' horizontal '9 handrests D whichextend, at intervals, be-

tween the aisle acrossthe-space on said side to said seat. with eachother, and should be atsuitable' distances apart to admit, to'the'floorspace,

or section between adjoining members of theseries, the full complementof standing pas-i sengers to which--such'section .is 1entitled,'..'; 1and, at the-same time, under such'conditibns, that each of saidpassengers will be within .1 "i easy reach of one or the other of thehand-v r'es't barriers D of his particular section.

Said handrests should be of a proper heightfrom the fioor to beconveniently grasped by the passengers when standing nearthesamethe-other side of the aisle, may, of; course,

beprovided, to serve passengers who cannot avail themselves of theliantlrests de "f scribed. In the figures: such an overhead: support is.denoted by T. The precise form of the handrests D is not of the essenceof Q the invention, except when derived-as indistraighthorizontal-barssupported neartheir',

or inwardly curving-j posts or vertical rods, integrahpieces orotherwise, and'may pass over. the seat to the wallof thecar at.-the

connection 'th long side' seats and muff The plan of car shown in Fig. lis afamil 7 0 7 The fare box Said handrests are parallelf-i' no Any formof overhead handrests desired," for f I which latter fm'ay Lbe f sengersupon the estibule' or entrance half of the car as Ttijs'lblC, is muchemphasized.

In this type, 1, ssengers only enter the car at 11?, and leave at I5depositing their fares in the box at P, whenever they pass that oint,either to ride in the rear half of the car, or to depart at IE No onewho is to ride but a few blocks will care. enough for a seat to gofarther than the compartment or front half of the car he first enters,but does require the best and mostadequate facilities for standingthatcan be afforded.

Such facilities, we insist, are best found, in the connection, in theemploymentof the general system of parallel handrests referred toherein, but, only, to the fullest degree, when the aisles are locatedeither wholly, or for the most part, off the center line of the flooralong and adjoining the I seats on that side of the car, and said systeminstalled on the floor space between the aisle and the seats on theother side of the car. lhe cross dimension of car floorsis so limited,that, when the aisle is located along the center, and the handrests atboth sides thereof, such handrests will not project far enough from theseats, to hold between the several pairs a number of persons-that issufiiciently proportionate to the increased number that can be soreceived and supported when the handrests are extended "to the middle ofthe car on one side. Only by shifting the aisle and thereby appreciablyenlarging the space between said supports,

can the fullest advantage ofitlie latter be realized. The application,therefore, of our present ideas to a car, like that shown in Fig. 5,where'long trips are not to be made, is especially appropriate. Indeed,in said car, it would be a further improvement, under the circumstances,andone which would doubtless be welcomed'by' all passengers in the same,if our off-center aisle, and

unilateralinstallment of handrests, were supplemented by the entireremoval of the seats, in the front end of such car, along the side ofthe 0211' Where the handrests themselves are located.

Having thus fully described our invention and set forth concreteembodiments of the same, what we claim' and wish to protect by LettersPatent is 1. In a street car, or similar vehicle,'t he combination of alon 'tudinal seat at one side of the same, an 0 center aisle, or pas--opposite to the seatfirst above named, and

horizontal hand rests for standing passengers, at intervals, aboveandacross the floor space between said aisle, or passageway, and

the longitudinal seat, last above named, on I gers, at intervals, aboveandtransversely of the floor space between said aisle or passage: way,and the seat on the other side of the car opposite to the first seathereinbefore specified, substantially as 'shown and described.

3. In a street car, or similar vehicle, the

space between one of said seats and 'the'midr I 'dle of the car,substantially as shown and described. .j

4..' In a street car, or similar fehicle, having oppositely locatedlongitudinal seats at the sides thereof, the combination of an of"-center aisle, or passageway along such seat j on one side of the car,and horizontal handrests for standing passengers, at intervals, aboveand transversely of the floor space between said aisle and the seat'onthe opposite side of the car, substantially as shown and described. r

5. In a street car, or similar vehicle, the

side thereof, a stanchion, in front of and addescribed.

GEORGE C. WING. LOUIS P. LIPPS. In presence .of-

WM. Gr. STUBER, FRANK T.- CULLITAN.

Gala: at thll patent my be obtained for five cents each; by addressingthe Commissioner of ratel tx. Washington, 1L0." I

95 combination of a longitudinal seat at the

